May forced to soften key target on migrants

Theresa May had repeatedly rejected calls from ministers to exempt students from her net migration targetsFRANK AUGSTEIN/AP

Theresa May is being forced into a concession over migrant targets as part of the price for calling a snap poll.

The prime minister is ready to soften her longstanding opposition to taking foreign students out of immigration totals, The Times has learnt.

Mrs May has repeatedly rejected calls from cabinet ministers including Boris Johnson, Philip Hammond and Amber Rudd to exempt students from the pledge to reduce the number of net migrants arriving in Britain each year to the tens of thousands.

Now she is offering to change the way that student numbers are calculated, with the promise of further concessions. The compromise is an attempt to ensure that an overhaul of the university system can pass through parliament in the next week.